The Big Engine that Could

Forty years ago, it was an abandoned military base and former prisoner of war camp in a remote and fairly inaccessible corner of Taunton.

Today it is the site of the one of the largest employment centers in all New England, with over 100 companies employing over 8,000 people.

We're talking of course of the Myles Standish Industrial Park (MSIP). How this all happened is a success story that should be studied and emulated. It's an instructive case study on public-private partnerships and coordination among all levels and functions of government.

From camp to champ

During World War II, Camp Myles Standish served our country as the site from which thousands of troops disembarked for the European theater. It also doubled as a POW camp for captured German soldiers and Italian detainees (a plaque in the park commemorates this).

After the war, the camp had outlived its usefulness. The Department of Defense didn’t want hundreds of acres of poorly accessible land with brownfield problems. But actions taken at that time and in subsequent years by the local, state, and federal levels of government would shape Taunton’s future.

Camp Myles Standish was deeded to the state in 1948 for mental health purposes, and 437 acres were subsequently sold to the quasi-public Taunton Development Corporation (TDC) in 1974 to develop and manage an industrial park in partnership with the City of Taunton.

Many players stepped up to the plate in subsequent years to contribute to a winning strategy.

The Commonwealth did its part by completing I-495, filling in the 13-mile “missing link” from I-95 in Mansfield to Route 24 in Raynham. This project would get underway in the late 1970s and finish early in the next decade.

But the feds really stepped up. As early as 1973, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded the City a modest $15,000 technical assistance grant to study the feasibility of an industrial park. This was followed by two more small grants and a larger investment by EDA of $1.68 million to pay for roads and utilities in the park.

By the late 1970’s the park was officially in business, giving Taunton a desperately-needed economic shot in the arm. Unemployment was averaging 50% higher than the state average and peaked at 14% in 1982.

Transformation

At first, land sales and construction in the 437-acre Phase 1 were slow, with many Boston-based businesses and entrepreneurs regarding southeastern Massachusetts as a remote and inaccessible backwater. But the new highway and the industrial park subdivision with “ready to build” lots eventually erased that perception.

In 1987, Dick Shafer was hired by the City of Taunton as Industrial Development Director and to assist TDC’s all-volunteer Board of Directors to continue MSIP’s development, a task he has pursued ever since. As the park’s reputation and success grew, EDA recognized a good investment opportunity and followed with grants in 1995 and 2001, totaling $2.4 million. These grants helped the TDC purchase additional land from the state and develop Phase 2 (218 additional acres) and Phase 3 (another 154 acres).

“We took great pride in maintaining a balanced distribution of manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses in the park” stated Shafer. “As of 2017, there are 106 companies at Myles Standish employing over 8,000 regional residents.”

Notable tenants include defense giant General Dynamics, the National Weather Service, Perkins Paper, Tribe Mediterranean Foods (New England’s largest hummus producer), and the Holiday Inn. 2017 saw the opening of the Martignetti Liquor corporate offices and distribution facility with nearly 1,000 employees, and the Boston Globe production and distribution facility with 700 employees.

As phases 1,2, and 3 were selling out, MSIP had a new problem – continued demand but a diminishing supply of sites. The City of Taunton and the TDC turned to the legislature and Senator Marc Pacheco to secure a transfer of the remaining 220 acres of land from the state Paul Dever School. In 2011 the deal was completed and the total park acreage increased to 1,029 acres.

The expansion presented new challenges, including the demolition and removal of forty unneeded buildings, tunnels, and paved areas. MassDevelopment agreed to be a partner for the upcoming phases 4 and 5, which will include a life sciences training and education center championed by Senator Pacheco.

“All along, this has been a team effort with the City of Taunton, federal and state agencies, the Taunton Development Corporation, and the many businesses in the park all working together to make this such a model development” Lou Ricciardi, TDC’s President proudly proclaimed. “It truly represents a living example of what we can accomplish when we all work together.”

It is remarkable that this regional economic juggernaut grew from the vision of a few and the hard work of many. More than providing employment for thousands of regional residents, the Myles Standish Industrial Park has done its part in erasing the outdated perception of the South Coast as being a “remote and inaccessible backwater” and has established itself as an engine of economic growth.